Tony Okell (309) successfully defended his Half Marathon title on Sunday with a superb run to hold off fellow Manx Harrier Paul Clarke (304) who finished 2nd (photo by Stan Hall)
One of the outstanding performances of the day was from Michael George of Manx Harriers. In his debut marathon he came home 9th overall in 3:14:09, and was 2nd local finisher, 32 seconds behind Ben Scott of Western AC. First local lady finisher in the Half Marathon Wendy Ross finished in 1:41:01 claiming 3rd lady finisher overall and 1st Vet 45 prizes. (photo’s by PJ)
Manx Harriers finishers in the Marathon; 9th Michael George 3:14:09; 26th Steve Partington 3:46:20 (w); 39th Peter Kaneen 4:00:59 (w); Half Marathon: 1st Tony Okell 1:16:23; 2nd Paul Clarke 1:17:38; 6th Nigel Armstrong 1:20:26; 10th Paul Curphey 1:24:28; 16th Phil Cain 1:28:26; 17th Andy Gosnell 1:28:27;31st Dave Collister 1:35:31; 32nd Paul Jackson 1:35:36; 36th Chris Cale 1:36:42; 37th Les Brown 1:36:55; 43rd Wendy Ross 1:41:01; 45th Ian Callister 1:41:17; 46th Richard Sille 1:41:19; 73rd Ann Cain 1:51:17; 77th Alan Bagley 1:51:38; 105th Andrew Corrie 1:59:25; 112th Marie Latham 2:02:58 (w); 121st Allan Callow 2:06:13(w); 125th Bethany Clague 2:07:31; 183rd Irene George 2:56:35; 184th Brian Brough 2:57:33 (w) ; 187th Sue Partington 3:01:34 (w) 209 finishers.
Tony Okell records his second win of the series. Richard Jamieson of Northern AC caught Darren Gray on the descent to claim second place.
Nick Percival made a confident return to racing action to finish 4th whilst seasoned campaigner Phil Cain followed up his excellent run in the Sunday’s ‘half’ with another fine performance on the hills
Rose and two thorns. Les Brown gained revenge over PJ for the half marathon with some demon descending. Rose Hooton of Manx Fell Runners finished 2nd lady behind Margaret Watkins
Gail Musson continues to improve and shows great potential on the hills. Gail was 3rd lady finisher and takes part in her second Grand Prix of the week on Saturday when practising begins for the Manx Grand Prix
Darren Gray & Phil Cain
Nick Percival heads Christian Varley on the descent from Corrin’s Folly in Monday’s Peel Hill Race (photo Robbie Callister)
Conditions were as near to perfect as they get for
the walk around the promenade and harbour of Peel on Monday evening with just a pleasant cooling light
westerly breeze for the 5km road walk championships hosted by Western A.C. In the junior walk Bronwen Kaneen was competing for
the first time in a while but made a pleasing return to competition to get under six minutes. Younger
sister Sinead was not too far behind in second. It was a close race for the next three positions
with newcomer Kitty Gawne just getting an advantage on Terence George and Jessica Isherwood with Daniel
Cretney not too far behind these. James Kershaw, another newcomer to racing, brought
home the field. In the 5km Peter Kaneen appeared to have no ill
effects from the marathon the day before and after a steady start was soon pulling clear of the rest. The race
for second proved to be quite a battle. Robert Moore making a welcome return to competition took the early
initiative, pulling around 20 metres clear of Marie Latham and Bridget
Kaneen in the first kilometre. Bridget caught and managed
to pass Robert at around the 3km mark and Marie was also working
hard to chase him down. Already reaching the finish
some three minutes before his wife, Peter Kaneen had decided to take a break
just short of the line much to the bemusement of Judy Morrey the timekeeper and
allowing his other half to cross the line before him and take the overall race
win and one second of her best ever for the distance. Robert managed to hold off Marie in the sprint for
the line, though it was Marie who took around 20 seconds off her
lifetime best for the distance which had been set in the AAA
championships last year, a great acheivement after having less than fresh legs
due to her victory in the half marathon walk the previous day. Allan Callow found his legs had not recovered quite
so rapidly and was frustrated not to be able to be up in the thick of the
action, finishing a further minute adrift of the bunch. Many thanks to all the officials and supporters who
came out to help on the night, particularly Judy Morrey who timed the races on
very short notice. Thanks also to Western A.C for hosting these championships
and providing the awards.
Wednesday’s 10K Great South Run
photo’s by Martin Critchley
A record entry of 78 for the popular new 10K Great South Run which formed Round 3 of this weeks Grand Prix
At Ballakillowey roundabout Tony Okell is already clear of Richard Jamieson & well on his way to his third win of the week
Leaders of the pack. Triathlete Eve Wengradt (114) was first lady finisher. Sarah Nelson (3) continues to improve in confidence and claimed the 2nd lady prize